I Became an Academy Counselor

Sigh.

Orca let out a sigh.
She had no interest in this friendly match or whatever it was.
If it weren’t for the counselors’ words, she wouldn’t have needed to wander around like this.

“Work hard, she says, but what exactly am I supposed to work hard at…”

Orca couldn’t understand why she followed the counselor’s words so diligently.
How long had it been since she decided not to care about adults’ words or anyone else’s words? 

Of course, thanks to the counselor’s so-called relic incense, she had been able to sleep well recently, which had made her feel more at ease. It’s true that she couldn’t just steal it and run away, and she still stayed put because she was enjoying its effects just by listening to her.

But it didn’t seem like that was all there was to it.
There was a feeling that something was subtly different…
At that moment.
From behind Orca, who was lost in thought, someone’s shout was heard.

“Die, Orca!”
“…Why does everyone say the same thing?”
“Urk?!”

An ominous arm sprouted from the back of Orca, who had been sitting still and grabbed the student who had been rushing at her. Realizing that the surprise attack had failed, the student struggled to escape from the grasp, but it was of no use.
No matter how much they moved, there wasn’t even a slight movement in that giant hand, and the student’s face gradually began to turn pale.

…And a moment later.
She clicked her tongue when she realized that the student’s presence had disappeared from her hand.

‘How many are there now?’

She had been waiting for them to wake up after just knocking them unconscious to torment those who had attacked her, but they had disappeared before she knew it. At first, she thought they had run away.
But when the number of people who disappeared was three, then four.
She clearly realized.
Someone was rescuing the students who had fallen into a state of incapacitation.
Since they called it a match, they must be rescuing them in advance to ensure it’s not really dangerous. She could tell it was probably the teachers’ doing.

But how?
How on earth were they rescuing them?
She was curious about that. So she had been watching after catching the students but to no avail. It was literally in an instant. The students disappeared in an instant.

“…Is it magic? Tsk.”

She felt like she might have heard something similar in the last class, or maybe not…
When the thought reached her that not knowing why the students were disappearing was her own fault for not properly attending classes, She decided not to think about it anymore.

She was curious, but not curious enough to dig into the principles behind it.
But perhaps because she had once wondered about it. She began to feel a curiosity that she had never felt when studying.

“In the first place, it’s not even a fight to kill each other, so why do they say ‘die’…?”

No, that’s not even the main issue.
Why on earth are they shouting while launching surprise attacks?
Have these idiots forgotten that people will react when they hear their voices?

“…Or is that not it? They just lack experience.”

It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand. She used to be like that too, a long time ago.
They shout to hide their fear of possibly failing. It makes it easier to act. It’s like a reflexive action, in a way.
In exchange for making it easier to act, it also makes it much easier to fail.

“…I’m in a bad mood.”

Suddenly remembering the old days she had buried in her memories, She sprawled out on the grass. Recalling those times she didn’t even want to think about, she didn’t feel like doing anything. The teacher’s words about how it would be good to work hard did come to mind, but whatever.

At least right now, she didn’t feel like doing anything.
She could probably make the excuse that she had put in enough effort by taking down several people.
Even though they had approached her while she was just sitting still…

‘Whatever. I’ll just say I did enough.’

Thinking that way, she lay down and basked in the warm sunlight. Not long after, someone else’s presence appeared again.
Again…

‘This is such a pain.’

Orca, with her eyes closed, waved her hand casually to signal that she had no hostile intentions.

“Either ignore me and go, or take me down and go. I don’t care.”
“That won’t do, Orca. I’m very interested in you.”
“What? Don’t be annoying, just get lost.”

She raised her eyes, irritated at the person who wasn’t listening to her words, intending to tell them to get lost immediately. However, the student who had spoken to her was just watching her with a bright smile, as if such threats didn’t scare them at all.

“…What, it’s you again. I thought you wouldn’t approach me anymore.”
“It’s been a while, Orca. I was planning not to, but… I heard an interesting story.”

The girl, who was looking at Orca as if she could see despite her eyes being covered with snow-white bandages, smiled as if relieved.

“As I thought, I believed that you too would gradually become a good person.”
“…Ugh. Get lost right now.”
“How coy of you.”
“…”

‘Does she ever listen to me? Maybe they should’ve covered her ears instead of her eyes.’

Orca thought as she looked at the Observer, Anastasia.
It seems she doesn’t understand the meaning of rejection well, probably because she’s always being revered at the church.

“You, the little bird in a cage, might not understand… but I’m telling you to disappear from my sight right now, you know?”
“I understand, Orca.”
“What?”
“Let me simplify it for you Orca… though you may not understand it now, this little bird only wants to communicate with the wild wolf.”

Orca, as if sensing that she couldn’t win with words, sighed and sprawled out in the grass.

‘Maybe she’ll be gone when I wake up after a nap.’

***

Leo’s POV

Huff, huff.

 “…Phew.”

I was struggling to move my feet along the river.
I wandered around looking for a place to rest and replenish my energy, which had been depleted from the previous battle, but all I could see was a dense forest. According to the explanation given by the teachers, there should be a meadow outside the forest. Far from finding a meadow, I had been wandering in the forest for hours.

“…Maybe it was too much to face five people at once after all.”

A knight should face adversity without faltering, always facing opponents fairly and squarely. It was good that I had confronted the ambush of five people without faltering, with such a mindset…
But it seems that I had been too unrealistic.

I managed to repel them somehow, but as a result, my body was in tatters.
If I don’t find a place to rest soon, it might be dangerous.
My stomach was starting to growl too.

…Is this as far as I go?
To become so depleted due to a moment’s misjudgment.
This is something to reflect on.

“…What’s this?”

As I thought about this, a delicious smell began to stimulate my nose.
It’s fish. And well-grilled at that. I had wandered here and there without my parents and knew it well. The smell of freshly grilled fish. Did someone catch it by the river?

But how?
It’s in the middle of a match, and chaos has broken out with students rushing from the meadow into the forest. Most of the students had fought each other and been defeated.
There’s no way someone would be leisurely grilling fish in such a situation.

It must be a trap.
A trap to gather and deal with people who, like me, are exhausted from fighting a lot.
However, I realized that my feet were moving toward the direction of the fish smell, even though I knew this fact. Once I smelled it, it was an irresistible temptation for me, who was starting to get hungry.

“…Damn it.”

In the end, I started moving my feet on my own, unable to resist the temptation of the delicious smell, even though I realized it was a trap.
That’s right.
Since it’s come to this, let’s break through head-on.

Even if it’s a trap, this fish smell is real.
This nose, trained by countless foods, doesn’t lie. Although I’m exhausted, I pride myself on having a body superior to students of the same age.
If I can somehow defeat the students who must be lying in ambush and seize the fish…

“Alright, let’s go with that. Yeah.”
“What are you muttering to yourself?”
“?!”

‘W-When did…?!’

I hurriedly drew my sword that was on my waist and swung it towards where the voice had come from.
However, all I had cut was the air.
The student who had spoken next to me only let out a surprised voice, as if startled.

“Whoa, easy… Hey, nice reflexes! You surprised me. Even though you look really tired, to have that kind of speed.”
“…!”

I had moved my body before thinking with my head, as soon as I heard the voice. I thought there was no way to avoid it since the voice was right by my ear.
Yet, far from cutting the body, I couldn’t even make a single scratch.
While I was astonished at the student in front of me, the girl took something out from her waist.

‘Is it combat?’

I guess I shouldn’t have come after all.
…However, the development I was thinking of didn’t happen.
The girl’s reaction was quite different from what I expected.

“You look hungry, want to eat?”
“…Huh? Fish?”

“Isn’t that what you want? You don’t need it?”
“If, if you’re offering, I’d gratefully accept, but…”
“Okay, then eat.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you…?”

What the girl took out from her waist wasn’t a weapon. It was a crudely grilled fish, stuck on a tree branch. The girl handed it to me as if she was proud of it.

“I’m Eileen. Nice to meet you, Leo.”
“…Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”

What on earth is this situation?
I looked around at the sudden situation while unconsciously chewing on the grilled fish in my hand.

‘…Ah, it’s delicious.’

TL Corner:

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